A divided Colorado legislature: GOP takes House, Dems keep Senate

Senate Republicans went to bed thinking they had won control of both chambers in the legislature, but woke up this morning to find Democrats still in charge in the Senate.

Rep. Frank McNulty, a Highlands Ranch Republican who likely will be elected House speaker, said he called Democrat gubernatorial winner John Hickenlooper this morning.

“We both agreed that now is the time for us to work together,” McNulty said.

McNulty has scheduled a press conference for later this morning at the Capitol.

On election night, Republicans said Bob Rankin was going to unseat Sen. Gail Schwartz, D-Snowmass Village, but she won with 832 votes.

“I am so relieved because certainly I serve at the whim of the voters,” said Schwartz, a Snowmass Democrat.

Republicans needed to win four Senate seats to reclaim the majority they lost in 2004, but so far have picked up just one, with state Rep. Ellen Roberts R-Durango, beating Sen. Bruce Whitehead, D-Hesperus.

It would be great if the Post could get its server issues sorted out so we could actually see the results. This has been a problem all night.

http://www.denverpost.com The Denver Post

Julia — We’re working on migrating all of our results to a more powerful server right now. We expect that to be finished by the end of the day. No one’s more disappointed than we are, and we thank you for continued patience. These U.S. Senate results are up-to-date and on won’t crash: http://extras.denverpost.com/app/elections/2010/us-senate.html

http://www.denverpost.com The Denver Post

Julia — We’re working on migrating all of our results to a more powerful server right now. We expect that to be finished by the end of the day. No one’s more disappointed than we are, and we thank you for continued patience. These U.S. Senate results are up-to-date and on won’t crash: http://extras.denverpost.com/app/elections/2010/us-senate.html

Julia

It would be great if the Post could get its server issues sorted out so we could actually see the results. This has been a problem all night.

Julia

It would be great if the Post could get its server issues sorted out so we could actually see the results. This has been a problem all night.

http://www.denverpost.com The Denver Post

Julia — We’re working on migrating all of our results to a more powerful server right now. We expect that to be finished by the end of the day. No one’s more disappointed than we are, and we thank you for continued patience. These U.S. Senate results are up-to-date and on won’t crash: http://extras.denverpost.com/app/elections/2010/us-senate.html

Lynn Bartels thinks politics is like sports but without the big salaries and protective cups. The Washington Post's "The Fix" blog has named her one of Colorado's best political reporters and tweeters.

Joey Bunch has been a reporter for 28 years, including the last 12 at The Denver Post. For various newspapers he has covered the environment, water issues, politics, civil rights, sports and the casino industry.